Category: Essential Oils

DIY central! I love DIY projects and when those projects double as useful home remedies it is even better! This project combines two loves, DIY projects and essential oils! This DIY project is one of my favorites to give as a gift and can be altered depending on your own personal needs.

These rice filled wash cloth pillows can be infused with any of your favorite essential oils depending on your medicinal needs. The eye masks are a perfect, all natural sleep aid when lavender oil is added or can aid in headache relief with peppermint oil. Just making one the other night alleviated my headache within ten minutes. To add a twist, these pillows go perfectly in the freezer for extra help during a headache (just put in a ziplock bag first-freezer smells trump essential oils unfortunately).

If you do not need an eye mask but would like a nice, scented heating pad; try using a hand towel instead. Although the more rice you have the longer it will take to heat up, the heat holds pretty well and makes the oils very fragrant. Below are some oils that I have used in the past for eye masks/heating pads:

Lavender (used for a heating pad and eye mask with and without peppermint oil)

Peppermint oil (eye mask alone or with lavender oil)

Valor and/or Panaway (heating pad-both wonderful for muscle soreness)

Eucalyptus (eye mask or heating pad)

The above oils help with multiple ailments so using them in eye masks and heating pads will go a long way!

They are easy to make!

To make the eye mask, pour eight cups of rice into a zip lock bag. Pour 10-15 drops of oil onto the rice and seal the bag. Occasionally shake the bag, mixing the oil onto all the rice. I let the rice sit for a few days, but you do not have to.

Fold the wash cloth in half and sew along the edge all the way around until there is about an inch and a half to two inches open. This will be the opening you put the rice in. The pillow will be inside out once you are finished sewing. Turn the wash cloth right side out. You will want the pillow to not be stiffly filled with rice, it is much more comfortable. Once you have the desired amount of rice in your pillow you will need to close up the hole. In the spirit of full disclosure, you’re on your own with this part. I have never been able gracefully finish this last part off so if you have an easy hack for it, let me know.

I love giving these as gifts. Although they are easy to make, they are meaningful to the receiver. If I know a friend is having sleep issues, I may make them a lavender infused sleep mask along with lavender sugar scrub. It’s nice to know I am giving something that someone can use and will make them feel good. Maybe I should sell them?…

The site got a little update (I mean why not, I just started it). Maybe some of the moms out there can weigh in on today’s subject?

With the constant debate on medicine and vaccinations, I don’t pretend to offer any knowledge on the matter. But I can I offer a different perspective, but only speaking from a slightly unusual perspective. Now don’t get me wrong, I get my flu shot every year from the school nurse but that is mostly for the students and for the off chance that it does work.

It all started my freshman year of college. I was excited to be there, I had just pledged a sorority, and was making a lot of new friends. It goes without saying that I had left High School behind and was excited to start college in a brand new place with brand new people! I was sad to leave my family but excited to start my new life. A few weeks into my college life, things got a little rough. I became sick and went to the campus clinic. Their first question, “Do you have a sexually transmitted disease?” Seriously?! I’m sick?!! They ask everyone who walks in there, including kids with broken legs, if they have an STD! No, No I don’t. Something is seriously wrong with me, I have this crazy rash on my legs, get rid of it! (side note, I found out several years later the rash was post-traumatic stress from leaving home; apparently you can experience PTSD in mild forms without really knowing it-who knew). They gave me Zyrtec and sent me on my way. Fast forward a few hours and I woke up with my eyes swollen shut (FYI, not a good look for me). My mom came down to take me to the ER. I discovered a few things on that ER trip. A) I am allergic to Zyrtec and B) steroid shots in the butt HURT! I was also given erythromycin (because I am allergic to Penicillin- a childhood diagnosis) and sent again on my way. Mom left, I slept, and then I went to Sunday night sorority meeting. That’s when things got hairy. My allergic reaction to the erythromycin started to set in and before I knew it my body started shutting down due to the medicine. After another night in the ER, and strict advice from all doctors to have no medicine ending ‘cyin’ I spent the next few years struggling through seasonal illnesses and a series of allergies tests (have you had those? I wouldn’t advise putting them on your bucket list unless you like to get 150 needle pricks on your back. Not for me).

Essential Oils

Enter Essential Oils. One fateful weekend, a very good friend introduced me to her Oils, or as her husband so affectionately refers to them, her “voodoo.” After that weekend, I was extremely intrigued and then got sicker than I had ever been, running a 103 fever for 3 days (when you usually run a solid 97.1, a 103 is bad), That, I promise you was just a coincidence. I signed up as soon as I was able to see straight.

With my starter kit I received a diffuser, a variety of 11 5mL oils, and marketing materials. I didn’t necessarily know what I was doing with each oil, but that is why Pinterest is amazing. I started looking up the different ways to use each oil and found a gold mine. I was excited to find out that one of the oils that came in my kit had a myriad of uses. Thieves is a blended oil that I am never without. Before using this oil, I would get sinus infections that would last MONTHS! Without being able to take medicine, sinus infections were miserable. Now, when I feel them coming on, I dab a few drops at night on the bottoms of my feet and sleep on it. My sinus infections only last a few days at most now. It is insane! Now, don’t get me wrong there are side effects. I walk around smelling like a spicy, Christmas like scent that can get a little over powering but who cares, I know that in a few days I won’t be feeling like crap anymore! Another miracle cure provided by Thieves…one drop on a Q-tip alleviates a tooth ache instantaneously! No joke, it is incredible!

There is more to oils than the medicinal element. My friend Anna is a blending genius and she is always coming up with crazy cool oils to blend together to make new scents. A lot of fun can be had experimenting with different oils and how they smell together. I love diffusing them in my classroom and many of my Pins on my Essential Oils Pinterest board showcase different concoctions.

As I mentioned, I am a teacher and always looking for ways to pinch a penny. For Christmas, I have made Essential oils infused gifts that have gone over great! I like to consider myself pretty crafty so these gifts turn out cute, practical, and all natural!

If you are interested in finding out more info on Essential oils, just let me know. I use Young Living because the starter kit was my in to the organization and I get my oils at a distributor cost. I also do not have to worry about renewing my membership each year which is great!